The Anselmo López association: “Is it necessary to lose the seniority of El Molinón to host the World Cup?”

They speak clearly. They also do it on the Walk of Fame. A project launched a decade ago and now, as they recognize, is in the “fridge”. The Anselmo López Association discovers on its visit to LA NUEVA ESPAÑA the ins and outs of the most important tribute to the club’s legends in a long and relaxed conversation.

The club is going through a period of change. A few months ago there was a change of ownership with the arrival of Orlegi. Was necessary?

–Aníbal Monteagudo (AM hereinafter): It was necessary. The decline was very important.

–Have you had any contact with Orlegi?

–Mario Carriles (MC hereinafter): We had a meeting in Mareo. I think it was shortly after they arrived. Together with other groups, such as Unipes, they informed us of the increase in subscription rates.

–Javier Fernández (JF hereinafter): We explained the idea of ​​the association to them.

–They are the promoters of one of the most important projects to distinguish the surroundings of El Molinón: the Walk of Fame. A year ago there were many contacts. What state is it in now?

–A. M: En “stand by”.

–MC: We have stopped it. With the change of mayoralty that is going to take place, it is stopped. We plan to do the walk on Avenida de El Molinón. The current mayor told us no.

–AM: She did not want to do it there because the avenue is her star project

–M. C: Every meeting we left saying: “Come on, this is moving forward.” And in the middle now, back again.

How many meetings have there been?

-M. C: It’s just that we started Forum ten years ago! The day the King of Spain abdicated we made the presentation.

–AM: Well, at least 25 meetings, with two governments.

–JF: There were three mandates. The last meeting was with the mayoress and Tuero. I think in May.

How did the idea come about?

–MC: The idea was born from the theme of the doors. We think of your day to recognize the legends with each door. We talked about it with Leli Rubiera. What was happening? That many were duplicated. The 4, for example, Maceda or Abelardo. The 1, Castro or Ablanedo. It was impossible. You were limited by paying homage to Meana, Villaverde, Tamayo… The original idea was not a walk, it was a walk but with a hall of fame.

–JF: And to coaches.

– What was the red line that they did not want to cross and that paralyzed everything?

AM: We got to get a press release, I think, saying that everything was stopped

–MC: We understand that we are an important part of this initiative, but we assume and understand that there are more voices that have an opinion. There were times when we did say “we’re not going to go through here.” Because there were ideas that we understood were already prostituting the project. The initial was to honor the people who made history at the club.

–JF: Not the ones that were made outside!

–M. C: Sure. And that led us to a difficult situation. There came a time when some thought one thing, politicians another, veterans another.

–JF: And another Unipes.

-A. M: In the end, the final idea had nothing to do with what we proposed.

–How many legends does the promenade have now?

-M. C.: 47.

–The last one to enter was Canella?

-MC: It’s not that it’s the last. But he enters a filter.

-A. M: Filters had to be changed for some to enter.

–Villa and Luis Enrique?

–MC: No, they were not part of what we initially understood as a museum. Because historically they have no relevance. It’s not that they didn’t have it, that I can get into a puddle. But not in the sense that we considered, that, in the end, what we seek is to recognize history. For example, Tamayo. He was twelve, thirteen, fourteen seasons… And others more as a prop man. We believe that he is very important at the club.

–JF: At the level of our romanticism, Tamayo was included.

-A. M: Quini’s death marked a lot because while he was alive he could inaugurate the project. But without him, who would inaugurate the tribute? there was the thing

–When did you decide to incorporate Villa and Luis Enrique?

–M. C: When a commission is formed.

But is it an imposition?

-M. C: More than tax, it is majority. From the commission they tell us that it is convenient to open that range and not be so purists.

–AM: There was a player, coach or president of those who were asked to include them for one reason or another, either because of the weight they had within the club in the years that they were or because of the weight among the fans.

– Do you value another space to do the Walk of Fame that is not the avenue of El Molinón?

–MC: We think it’s the best place.

-A. M: The first idea was raised by Joaquín Aranda, an architect who has already passed away. It started from the original gate of the stadium, between Alimerka and Carling, and turned to gate 0. We now believe that the best location is El Molinón avenue.

–JF: Or our purism.

-A. Me: Let’s see. Sporting’s history is based a lot on the seventies and eighties. But back then… People are very unaware of that story and there were much more important players and coaches than the ones we now applaud. We wanted to recognize them.

–M. C: People have to realize that a person like Manolo Meana, in 1920, managed to be called up by the Spanish team. And he did it when Gijón was away from the world. Because I don’t know how many hours it took to go from Madrid to Gijón from that one, but he attracted so much attention that they called him from that one. That has a value. He had to be very good!

–AM: It is that in addition to being a player, he was a coach and national coach. He was very important in national football.

–JF: But it was in 1920 and it was buried there…

–MC: Or Villaverde, who has a badge and we didn’t put it on him. He has her on the platform. Pepe Ortiz was a player, a delegate for a zillion years… I grew up respecting Pepe Ortiz, Jesús Barrio, Tati Valdés or Puente.

–JF: It annoyed us having to modify this type of thing. But we assume that our truth is ours and it doesn’t have to be the right one. We were very surprised that with the idea that Orlegi intends with El Molinón, antiquity is lost and people don’t care. He left us touched.

–Orlegi’s idea for the stadium is almost a demolition and a new creation of El Molinón.

-A. M: It seems pretty bad to us. It would be necessary to do a study of the area, whether it can be expanded step by step.

–JF: We don’t know why nobody considers keeping the grass where it is.

–MC: You have to make a new Molinón, of course. You have to do it step by step, of course. But change the grass? Is there any study that says you have to change it? I accept the words of Irarragorri. He said that the oldest stadium in Spain cannot run out of the World Cup. Ok i agree. But if they build a new stadium, wouldn’t they be running out of the World Cup?

–JF: If the grass is moved, it loses seniority. San Mamés has lost its antiquity.

– Is it worth being a venue, improving the stadium and enhancing the environment in exchange for losing seniority?

–M. C: That is what the architectural studios have to say.

–J. F: What we propose is the opposite. Is it necessary to lose seniority to host the World Cup?

–MC: Is there a possibility that this will continue? Anfield is still there. The Bernabéu is still there.

–AM: It annoys me much more when he whistles because a shirt has the thinnest stripes or I don’t know more, and not realizing this. The stadium is what we have left of history. He changed pants, shirt, and even shield.

–MC: But it is the City Council who has to decide. Because they are the ones who have to safeguard the interests of the city. Why? Well, because in a few years, Orlegi might not be there.

–AM: A step was burned here. They threw it back and made it in the same place. It is the only historical prestige that Sporting has left.

–J. F: The message that is clear. Are we in favor of the World Cup? Of course. Are we in favor of a new Molinón? Of course. Are we in favor of moving? If someone explains that it is not feasible to do it any other way… But we want there to be an independent technical study. And that he says: “it is unfeasible because of this, this and this”.

–The statue of Quini is finished, but funding is pending. Are you sorry that the tribute is incomplete?

MC: Of course. It is striking that thousands of people have gone to Quini’s funeral and the money has not been raised. As sportinguistas we feel sorry.

–JF: It is fair that it has a statue. It is the most important figure.

Records and chronicles of Sporting of 1919 found

The Anselmo López association has obtained what could be one of the oldest documents in the history of Sporting. It is a book with minutes and chronicles of meetings of the rojiblanco club from 1919 to 1927. “They are not official minutes, if not written by a person from the club, surely the secretary of that time. We believe that it is the oldest document of the club “, they add. Anselmo López has purchased this file. His objective now is to donate it to the rojiblanca entity in that future meeting that they hope to have with the Orlegi Group.

The group rescues the founding act of the club

The Anselmo López association has rescued the founding act of the club. A historical document that was lost and that has now been located after carrying out an important investigation. In 1956, they explain from Anselmo López, different protagonists of the moment in the rojiblanco club met to agree on the year in which the club had been founded. “That’s when it becomes official, with the minutes. The founders of the club do it with former players.” The club had a copy in the offices and it disappeared. “We investigated. We found the notary’s office that has the copy and in due time we notified Javier Fernández. Now we are going to see if we meet with the club: we will tell them where he is so they can pick him up,” they explain. “Only a representative with a notarial signature can go to collect the minutes,” they add.